just finished painting my winter project I use to use auto. lacquers, but this time I thought I would save some money so I used KRYLON. I used their interior/exterior ( acrylic lacquers ) and some of their Krylon Short Cuts, hobby enamels ( VT alkyd enamels) the jet came out just fine but now I do need a clearcoat. what kind/brand of a clearcoat can I use that will go over both kinds of paints
thanks

PPG polyurathane

You want a clear coat that is not going to yellow over time, that means a water based clear coat like Minwax.

Vince

PPG DCC 2021 will not yellow over time and does not react with a lot of different paints. I know it has been sprayed over Krylon before.

David Reid

The suggestion of Minwax water based was on the assumption he wanted to save some money, not ransom the farm on some automotive clear.

Vince

Will that Minwax hold up to glow fuel?

Minwax water base urethane turns to goo when exposed to nitro fuels
Nelson hobby http://www.nelsonhobby.com/paint/paint.html sells a supposed clear finish that wont yellow and tower carries the chevron polyurethane clears. although I hear the gloss clear does yellow with age. I have used the chevron flat recently and it worked very well with just a hint of yellowing although it really is more of an eggshell sheen than a dead flat
I have been told the urethane floor finishes work well but I could only find them in 1 gallon sizes at about 45 bucks a pop

Minwax is NOT fuel proof. It turned to slime on my airplane with just the exhaust residue and raw fuel etches it badly if you don't get to it real quick.

If you want to save money, try the touch up cans of clear coat at the auto parts store - $3.49 for 8oz can. I haven't tried it yet, but I can vouch for the Minwax being a disaster, and its my next experiment. I also tried the Varathane Outdoor Gloss with bad results too.

Maybe the ones having good luck are the gassers.

PS - the Minwax is still prone to fingerprints 6 months later after being in the hot desert sun many times.

I've used the Minwax clears in oil-based and water-based. They hold up fine on gassers, probably because there is very little exhaust residue.
I'm not surprised that glow fuel attacks it. There aren't that many paints that hold up to glow fuel, especially with higher nitro content. That's one of the many reasons I switched over entirely to gas-powered planes. No mess, no fuss, and you can use almost any kind of paint.

I HAVE USED ACE HARDWARE BRAND CLEAR WITH GOOD RESULTS.IT SEEMS TO HOLD UP TO NITRO AND HASN'T YELLOWED YET. IT COMES IN A PINT CAN AND IS INEXPENSIVE.

I just painted a plane with Auto-Zone..."Dupli-color" engine enamel....reason ? heat resistance, and gas-oil resistance.

I also used their "filler" primer.

I covered it with their "enamel-clearcoat".

Cost...I think it was $3.59 a can...about half the cost of "air-plane paint".

Result....?....I wont be using anything else...ever.

It looks great on a yellow plane. I wonder how it will look on a white plane. My only experience with "Clear" paint was several years ago, when I decided to paint a fuselage because I didn't want any covering seams. After doing tons of extra work to hide all of the wood grain and make it smooth as a babys butt, I painted it white, with red and blue trim, and then proceeded to ABSOLUTEY RUIN it with Black Baron "CLEAR" which should be called "Transparent Yellow".

Sorry to hear about that....too much work, just to see it ruined with the clear-coat.

Well...I won't be able to see any yellowing on this one, so I guess that question will remain open.

All i can say at this point...is the fuel residue came off with no trase of etching...whatsoever, using 15 % sport fuel. I am thinking about some good 'ol Turtle wax in a few weeks.

Here's the stuff I used...it's a "Clear Enamel"?????

I just used Minwax clear oil-based urethane on a plane with a lot of white areas (Chipmunk). I used it because I know it holds up to raw gas spilled on it. It definitely made the white areas look like "antique" white. However, out in the daylight it's not as noticeable as inside the house. IMO on warbirds and WW1 types the yellowing effect gives an old weathered look, which I like. I think this stuff is probably similar to the Black Baron clear. I tried Minwax water-based clear, which isn't yellowish, but it gets attacked by raw gas.
So...the search goes on for the ideal clearcoat that's convenient and economical.

thanks for all the help guys...what I did was to paint the plane with krylon spray paint that i mixed to get just the right shade and then to spray it on when dry I used lustrekote clear . it worked out great.. krylon and lustrekote are both a
lacquer base paint and my JHH K-fir came out just the way I wanted it to look. and no yellow tint on the white.